1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a broadband wireless access system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for efficiently allocating resources to a terminal in a random access system.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Although conventional communication is mostly Human to Human (H2H) communication performed between terminals of users via a base station, Machine to Machine (M2M) communication has become possible along with development of communication technology. The term “M2M communication” refers to communication that is performed between electronic terminals as the term states. Although, in a broad sense, the term “M2M communication” refers to wired or wireless communication between electronic terminals or communication between a terminal that is controlled by a human and a machine, the term has generally been used recently to indicate wireless communication between electronic terminals, i.e., wireless communication between terminals.
In the early 1990's when the M2M communication concept was introduced, M2M was considered a concept such as remote control or telematics and associated markets were greatly limited. However, in recent years, M2M communication has been continuously rapidly developed, creating a new market that is attracting domestic and global attention. Especially, M2M communication has exerted a great influence upon fields such as Point Of Sale (POS) and fleet management in the security-related application market and a smart meter for automatically measuring the amount of consumed heat or electricity, measuring an operating time of construction equipment and facilities, and remote monitoring machines and facilities. In the future, M2M communication will be used for a wider variety of purposes, in combination with existing mobile communication and wireless high-speed Internet or low-power communication solutions such as Wi-Fi and ZigBee, and will no longer be limited to the B2B market and will expand its application field into a B2C market.
In the M2M communication era, all machines equipped with a SIM card can transmit and receive data such that it is possible to remotely manage and control all such machines. For example, the field of application of M2M communication technology is very broad such that M2M communication technology can be used for a great number of terminals and equipment such as cars, trucks, trains, containers, vending machines, and gas tanks.